2017’s next venture was centred on a railtour doing a variety of branch lines in southern Moravia, with my particular interest being the street running section along ulice Poříčí between Brno dolní nádraží and the BVV exhibition centre. I’d booked for another tour over this line in September 2009 but it was cancelled and I had to console myself with (quite a lot of) track in Slovakia instead.

Wednesday 5 July

A beautiful morning greeted Arriva’s pair of 158s which turned up more or less on time forming 10:52 Telford-Birmingham International. With a stag party heading for the front unit I turned my attention to the rear set, which had failed air con in the rear coach. Luckily the front coach did have operational air con so I travelled in comfort to New Street where I baled out for an early lunch in case of difficulties with the tightish connection in Praha.

Onwards to Birmingham Airport which was in full-on summer mode but coping. It took about 20 minutes to get through security but having shed both belt and shoes I managed to get through the scanner in silence for once.

With the display showing 'Gate open in 10 minutes’ I went off to visit the facilities, only to find on my return the dreaded 'Wait in lounge’. Suffice it to say that quite a long time and a number of excuses later, we departed 35 late. As the real reason seemed to be a medical problem, why not say so? I wouldn't have minded, and most others likewise.

The CSA crew pedalled really hard and arrival at PRG was only about 25 late. Delight when an airbridge appeared soon turned to disappointment when we were sent downstairs to a bus. It didn't wait for everybody though, and a quick dash through the electronic immigration gate just got me to the 18:15 AE bus to hlavní nádraží, arriving in time for a cash machine and supermarket visit (Billa) before SC 719 at 19:37 to Ostrava. 10 minutes' delay ensued near and at Přelouč for what appeared to be a points failure and at the time of writing we’re somewhere between Pardubice and Česká Třebová, still 10 late.

Things then improved, with the time gradually regained, and an on time arrival at Ostrava-Svinov and Ostrava hl. n. Thence to the travel centre where Ada rather grudgingly validated my ticket for Chałupki tomorrow. As before, it required a phone call, for reasons still unknown.

Off to the Hotel Max Šimek, where the non-Anglophone conciergette said she had no reservation. Wonderful. We became quite good friends over the next 15 minutes during which she had a very long call to her boss which involved me speaking to the boss as well. All smiles in the end, rack rate charged, and I got to stay in a hotel I certainly wouldn't want to stay in again. Not the conciergette's fault - it's a cheap(ish) hotel. 'Nuff said.

Thursday 6 July

A poor night in uncomfortable surroundings, to say nothing of the thunderstorm and the trams. Luckily I was not at the front of the hotel. Up at 5 and away to the station with time to get a coffee before receiving the glad tidings that EC111, due 05:56, was 20 minutes late 'for technical reasons’. It escalated to 40, then at 06:20 a Polish loco ambled through westbound with ECS, hopefully for EC111. Not much chance of my planned trip to Raciborz, then.

06:45 now - EC 111 now delayed ‘another 70 mins’. I hope it isn’t, or the day falls apart.

It was, nearly, and it did. 111 late in the end, behind EP09 021, so no chance at all of going to Raciborz. However on the approach to Bohumín it slowed and there was a satisfying lurch to the left followed by a trundle round the avoider, so that was objective 1 dealt with. Just 25 minutes or so at facility-less Chałupki, followed by a grubby but cloth seated EN57 1708 to Bohumín. Zl 2 was the fare, with another CZK 21 Bohumín-Ostrava. A grand total of £1.10, quite a contrast with the £6.30 required for EC 111.

R 346 was a mere 8 minutes late , with 162 008, so no problem with the onward connection from Ostrava hl.n. to Brno. Although, it’s going awful slow… It got up to speed once away from Bohumín and arrived at Ostrava with 75 minutes to go for R 838 which is currently (still 36 mins to go) showing up as on time.

On time it was, too - number not recorded due to photographing a pair of AL6s on an eastbound freight. I decided to nip to the facilities in between Ostrava hl.n. and Svinov in the mistaken belief that there couldn't be a grip in such a short distance. I’d just got back and had the contents of my rucksack strewn everywhere in preparation for a 2-hour fester when Ada arrived requiring my phone and passport…

At Studénka an 810 was noted in the branch platforms - definitely separate track by my rules, but then I’ve done it, as well as the main line connection. Alas the same applies at Suchdol nad Odrou, where I haven't done the connection. Yet. At Suchdol the branch platform seems to have acquired a new shelter since my last visit, though I’d have to check the photos to be sure. On time departure from Hranice na Moravě, not that there’s any great rush.

On time at Brno, so plenty of time for lunch and ticket. Money saving advice from Friendly Ada got even better when I realised that her CZK 49 6-zone/120 mins ticket would get me the bus to Hustopeče as well (it's a public holiday so no trains). So it proved, and the very neat modern brewery right by a bus stop dispensed a very pleasant cold IPA-ish sort of 12%/° ale for CZK 32. I’d replanned for an earlier return to keep the beer input sensible, and a good thing too.

Back to Brno on a sweltering 242-powered parliamentary with vinyl seats. It’s in the high 20s or low 30s and humid. Ugh.

Having negotiated the shambles where the tram stops outside Brno hl.n. are being rebuilt (did they really have to do it during the railway blockade?) a no. 1 got me to the Hotel Omega, a vast improvement over last night's abode. A quick shower restored morale before getting nos 2 and 4 to for a short walk to JBM Brew Lab for a wondrous, if expensive, hop beast. Then to the Lucky Bastard Beer house whose daft name isn't too helpful. LB Blonde was fine but nothing out of the ordinary by today's standards. Ludlow Blonde is just as good - in my opinion, of course!

Back for an early night, fell asleep prior to getting into bed… woke at 22:00 to remember I hadn’t got my ticket for Saturday. Long struggle to get to the seating plan, then having succeeded and paid, the tickets didn't arrive. Eventually they did, by which time I was too tired to bother downloading them. Fool.

On 6.7.2017 a long and cold wait for the passengers ends as EP09 021 ambles into Ostrava hl.n 111 minutes late with EC111

This rather tired looking EN57 was my transport from Chałupki to Bohumín, where it's seen on 6.7.2017 waiting to return to Katowice

Friday 7 July

Up for breakfast early doors, to be joined by a long standing friend who I had thought was in a different hotel. We set off for Královo Pole by trams 2 and 6 having visited the nearest potraviny for food supplies - but no water, this being surprisingly hard to find. Arriving at Královo Pole we succeeded at the 4th, or was it fifth, attempt. The Grumpy Railtours (né NFP) train was waiting, 750 001 with some very nicely restored coaches. As it was all one class we elected for first class with cloth seats and pleasant company.

On time departure was followed by a pick up stop at Brno dolní nádraží, then on to Oslavany, doing a new, or at least replaced flyover on to the Hrušovany line. All well so far and only a few minutes down.

Next was a seriously slow stagger down to Hevlín and back, with overgrown undergrowth doing the new paint no favours. We then couldn't run round so propelled back to Hrušovany, even more slowly if that were possible. We’d now lost our path but the booked crossing points were maintained (perhaps there were no others available), and thanks to late running of the westbound trains we were well over an hour down at Břeclav. Curtailment of the Kúty stop helped, but by the time we reached Hodonín things had deteriorated, not helped by the on time release of the 17:46 service train on to the single line to Zaječí immediately in front of us. Many participants were very anxious to do the Brno BVV branch in daylight and the eminently pragmatic and sensible organiser took a straw poll which resulted in the equally pragmatic and sensible decision to omit the Hustopeče branch with its M-F regular passenger service.

A surprisingly smart run to Zaječí and on to Brno dolní got us there in good time to get on to the branch in rapidly deteriorating light (due to developing thunderstorms). Nevertheless, with a police car 'pilot’ and with a good deal of noise from the rear of the train, we made it down to the end, barring 50 metres, of this unusual and very interesting branch in time for photographs. Full marks to Mr Grumpy Railtours (a most inappropriate name it would seem, but it should be emphasised that it refers to the nickname of the loco, not the entirely un-grumpy organiser!) for an excellent day out. For the first time in 13 months, democracy dun well, though despite being a purely track man who did Hustopeče years ago, I sympathise with those who wanted to do the branch loco hauled. C’est la vie, I guess.

Arriving at dolní at 21:10 there was a lot of Donner und Blitzen, and fearsome black clouds, but no sign of the 21:09 no. 60 bus. With many others I started to walk into town, but seeing the errant 60 approaching I trotted back to catch it, being rewarded with a zero minute tram connection at hlavní and arrival at the hotel without a drop of rain!

Every cloud has a cardboard lining, and the hotel WiFi was down, with no prospect of resuscitation. No tickets for tomorrow therefore, so a shower and bed were the agenda as I still couldn't get my mobile Internet to work.

This was as close as the 'Oslavany Oscillator' got to Dukovany, where there are gates just beyond the road. Why on earth wouldn't you want 200 British gricers wandering around in a nuclear power station?

T478 1001 waits to cross a westbound train at Hrušovany

The Brno BVV branch was worked 'top and tail' by 714 028 and T478 1001. Here the 'Oslavany Oscillator' stands at the BVV exhibition centre on 7.7.2017

With traffic passing on both sides I was lucky to get a clear shot as the 'Oscillator' trundled along the middle of the busy 4-lane ulice Poříčí

Saturday 8 July

A lightbulb moment at 04:00 got my mobile Internet sorted and tickets downloaded. Yes, I had turned mobile data on, so not complete disgrace! Breakfast taken on the balcony as there was a torrential storm last night which had dropped the temperature to 'quite pleasant’ at least outdoors in the shade. Full marks to Omega although my friend said his room had my bête noir, the shower you couldn’t hang on the wall. Mine was fine, though. The lack of WiFi was a pain but we always used to manage without this stuff!

Off to Brno dolní on tram 2 and bendy bus 60 - how do they get them through that railway bridge at speed? 08:52 to Kolín had the booked RegioPanter, with fully functional air con and WiFi - all very pleasant. At Kolín the bus service is so poor that it was easier to walk into town, which I did, finding it in full mortuary mode at noon on a Saturday. I found a bar in the square with Pilsner Urquell. Any port in a storm. Returning to the station, the Kozel 11 in the buffet was a great improvement! One or two of the customers were clearly alive, too.

R1106 to Doksy was a bogie railcar (843?) with two trailers. With few pax and some windows open, it was tolerable, and the baguette from Pont at Kolín was quite pleasant. At Doksy I walked down to the lake but declined the CZK 55 entrance to the lakeside amusements and 'beach’ preferring to spend a fraction of that replacing lost fluid with a Břežak 10 at the station bar. Very welcome.

With two trains crossing just before the Liberec departure, some manoeuvring was needed, but this was achieved by running the Trilex unit in behind the Rumburk train in P1, leaving the line clear for the Kolín train in P2. To my surprise the Trilex kart, a 2-car low floor unit, was quite lightly loaded even on this fine, if very hot, day. Perhaps a 'do it while you can’ working if you want the Česká Lipa avoider, which was duly done without incident. The air con worked well too, and I was soon back to a comfortable state.

On time arrival at Liberec so plan A of staying overnight in Szklarska Poręba would have worked, but it had seemed too risky with only a +12, so after getting a ticket for the morning train and two tram tickets, I repaired to Hotel Liberec by tram 3 (standard gauge) and SEV X3 which dropped me at the door.

Evening was spent at Pivotéka Liberec, seemingly a tied house for the Albrecht brewery at Frydlant, in conversation with two friendly young locals about shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbages, kings et al. But not Brexit. Beers sampled were the svetlé lezak (good but a hint of micro), weizen (a bit odd) and IPA (excellent).

Doksy on 8.7.2017 with the Trilex DMU stabled on the right as a ČD DMU departs towards Česká Lipa

Sad news of an old friend in the UK left me largely sleepless and a bit gloomy but I did manage to stagger out for the 05:44 SEV/tram to the station and get some breakfast before departing for Poland on a 3x1 Stadler unit (trapezoid windows). The rack section was noted between Desná and Koreňov - It was the sound of the unit struggling with the gradient that prompted me to look, and to wonder how the new karts (branded RegioSpider for some obscure reason) will manage in the winter.

At Harrachov the driver left the train, causing me a bit of excitement when the train started moving without him. Turned out the rear unit was being detached, which I’d forgotten about. Uneventful then to Szklarska Poręba Górna where disappointingly, the ČD trains use a west facing bay leaving a gap seemingly unlikely to be inked in. But never say never!

The air conditioned low floor KD electric unit with power sockets and free wi-fi contrasted interestingly with Thursday’s decrepit EN57… The first 25 minutes or so are a steep drop (thinking of the energy saving, shouldn't all railways with steep gradients be electrified as a priority?) down from Szklarska Poręba; thereafter it's pretty flat. A very tedious trudge to Jelenia Góra and Wrocław ensued, with the kart full and standing for a considerable distance out of Wrocław.

A quick McDs was all there was time for before 12:58 IC 8305 to Kraków which had rolled in on time at 12:40. It left on time but soon dropped a few minutes due to mole related delays. Route was via Czestochowa, with lateness stretching to 20 minutes followed by a slight recovery to 17 by Kraków. No longer the conventional station of my first visit in 1996, the sales opportunity - sorry, passenger - is unloaded into a retail hell where there are cash machines at every turn but only one ticket machine. The shopping centre completely dwarfs the transport hub and to get through it quickly is impossible.I did eventually get my ticket to the airport from the machine but was then faced with the challenge of finding the outside world. The designers clearly want you trapped in this fantasy world of glitzy shops and cash machines for ever.

Escape was eventually made to the street outside, where there were tram ticket machines. Let us call them A and B. A’s touch screen was in the full glare of the sun (34°C today) so off to shaded B which refused to respond at all. I was accosted by a helpful local who clearly thought (as did I) that it was down to my stupidity - but she fared no better. We tried A - much the same. Problems with the menus, cash, cards, contactless, everything. Between A, B and the two of us we eventually got all the required tickets. Then my new friend pointed out to me the major moleworks which had removed all of the tram routes I could use to get to the CK Browar brewpub. She wasn’t able to direct me to the relocated stops so I thanked her for her help and assured her I’d find them. I couldn't, so had to walk it in the end, making sure before I went into the pub that I knew where to get the tram back. The timetables said that all the trams stopped at the underground stops at the station, so in I went. The beer was fine, and the service very friendly - and quick, which was helpful.

After an all too brief break I went out to the tram stop, where a 14 was just arriving. I leapt aboard and off it trundled in the general direction of the station. It turned off left just before the station but then headed off northwards with no apparent intention of turning back eastwards to access the tunnel. Concerned that I might have misread the situation, I dived out and enjoyed another extremely hot walk back to the station. I arrived in adequate time for the 18:07 train out to the airport, a low floor EMU of the sort you find everywhere nowadays. Dull but worthy, and it had efficient air conditioning. The airport station is a single island platform bearing a considerable resemblance to the Ostrava airport one – even the stations are getting to look the same everywhere now.

That turned out to be the end of the good bit. I was soon through security, and looked at the departures screen which said 'Gate number at 19:55'. Fair enough, it was a 20:55 booked departure. I settled down to wait but was a bit fidgety because of the tight-ish connection on to the last train at Birmingham Irrational, so I had a look at BHX departures to see when the inbound flight had left. A long list of flights, all coloured blue except of course, FR1465. To cut a long and tedious story short, it eventually arrived very late and left at 22:46. Landing at Birmingham was at 23:58 – a further series of delays saw me out of Arrivals at around 00:40, in good time to miss my hoped-for 23:08 to Telford, as well as the 23:44 and 00:09 to Wolverhampton. Thus it was that the ever-kindly Mrs EG ended up having a nice drive to Birmingham Irrational, featuring a diversion via the Walsall ring road and A34 because of overnight moleworks on M6. Not really what you'd call a result, but on the plus side all objectives for the trip were achieved, some more punctually than others, so really it was only a question of inconvenience. There is perhaps a lesson to be relearned, which is don't book late flights, book an early one the next day!

Szklarska Poręba on 9.7.2017 with the annoying gap between the ČD train from Tanvald in the bay platform far left, and the KD DMU for Wrocław on the right

Kraków Lotnisko (Airport) station on 9.7.2017. The end of the line is behind me; the driver has changed ends and the train is about to depart for Kraków Główny

July turned out to be a busy month; 5 days later I was on my way back to Poland on what turned out to be the last trip of the year, this time to do the summer weekend service across the border with Slovakia between Łupków and Medzilaborce.

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